Yes she's still single, but don't worry she has a career!

A few weekends ago when I went to visit my parents for the weekend, my mum was telling me a story about a woman she knows who has recently found a partner and had a baby after a long period of being single. My mum, who longs to be grandmother, has taken to telling me stories like this. I sometimes wonder who she is trying to reassure more, me or herself. 

Anyway, during this conversation she made a comment about the woman being single for so long because she was “obsessed with her career”. The words “like you” hung in the air between us although she didn’t actually voice them. It reminded me of a time when I was trying to reassure someone who was newly single that things weren’t so bad. My cousin on hearing me say in a joking and self-deprecating way that it could be worse, she could be me, said: “Oh but you’ve only been single so long because you’ve been focused on your career”. 

Hmm. Am I the only one that feels a bit annoyed by comments like these? Firstly there are plenty of people …